Man vs Machine: Who wins history's nerdiest battle?

Updated 9:47 AM ET, Wed March 19, 2014

Man vs Machine: Who wins history's nerdiest battle?11 photos

Man vs Machine – ROUND ONE: RUBIK'S CUBE

A robot has smashed the world record for solving a Rubik's Cube in the fastest time of 3.25 seconds. The menacingly named "Cubestormer III" annihilated Dutchman Mats Valk's human record of 5.55 seconds -- not bad considering it's made from Lego and has a mobile phone for a brain.

Ok, so the brainy bot comes out on top this time. But are they really that much smarter than us? Roll up your sleeves (and adjust your keyboards) for some of the nerdiest competitions of all time...

This one goes to the "Cubestormer."

SCORE: Machine 1, Man 0

By Sheena McKenzie and Matt Ponsford

[Images: Patrik Stollarz/AFP/Getty Images; Courtesy ARM]

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Man vs Machine: Who wins history's nerdiest battle?11 photos

Man vs Machine – ROUND TWO: CHESS

You've got to feel for chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov. The Russian was ranked World Number One pretty much throughout his entire career -- from 1984 to 2006.

And yet the only thing anyone ever seems to remember is when he competed against IBM computer "Deep Blue" in 1997 -- and lost. I mean give the guy a break, he won against the computer the year before.

So let's call this one a draw.

SCORE: Machine 2, Man 1

[Images: Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images/File]

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Man vs Machine: Who wins history's nerdiest battle?11 photos

Man vs Machine – ROUND THREE: WINE TASTING

Meet Japan's "Sommelier Robot," the nifty know-it-all which can tell you the brand of wine you're drinking and what it tastes like --simply by pointing infrared rays at the liquid.

Sure, its cute little bow tie is a nice touch. But can it regale you with drunken dinner party conversation long after your last guests have gone home?

"People don't realize how tough it is to write that kind of program that can read a clue in a natural language like English — to understand the puns, the red herrings, to unpack just the meaning of the clue. I thought, 'Yes I will come destroy the computer.'"

Only, he didn't. This round goes to computers.

SCORE: Machine 3, Man 2

[Images: Ben Hider/Getty Images/File]

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Man vs Machine: Who wins history's nerdiest battle?11 photos

Man vS Machine – ROUND FIVE: GYMNASTICS

Apart from its catchy name, "RB2000" can swing 360-degrees on a crossbar, do pull-ups, and perform cartwheels almost like it was a real gymnast.

Yes, robotics has come a long way since this clever critter was unveiled in 2006, with even the most basic home-made machines now nailing quadruple backflips with pinpoint accuracy. But isn't part of the joy of watching gymnastics, in marveling at the human body -- and wincing in sympathy when it all goes horribly wrong?

This one goes to the people.

SCORE: Machine 3, Man 3

[Images: Adam Pretty/Getty Images; Yoshikazu Tsuno/AFP/Getty Images]

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Man vs Machine: Who wins history's nerdiest battle?11 photos

Man vs Machine – ROUND SIX: ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS

This machine doesn't even have proper hands and it can still beat us at "Rock, Paper, Scissors," every single time.

The "Janken" robot -- named after the Japanese word for the popular children's game -- has an inbuilt camera which recognizes the shape its opponent's hand is making within 1 millisecond, and chooses the gesture that trumps it.

Introducing RoboCup, an annual competition pitting thousands of machines against each other on the pitch, from laboratories across the world.

These slow and unsteady humanoids hardly compare with the sporting skills of 2013 FIFA Ballon d'Or player of the year, Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo (pictured left). But be warned, the robot team is hoping to beat FIFA's world champions by 2050.

Seeing the "Cheetah" robot in action is a bit like witnessing a small, headless animal from a futuristic nightmare. Running at 28.3 miles per hour (45.54 kilometers per hour), the speedy machine was designed by Boston Dynamics, which also contracts for the U.S. military.

It doesn't get more dramatic than German table tennis champion Timo Boll taking on a robotic arm in this commercial for engineering company KUKA, coming back from 6-0 to beat the machine which even seems a little sad to lose.

Ok, so this is a fairly rigged battle. But the human still won. And as long as we keep creating the machines ourselves, we can make sure it stays that way.